🇪🇸
Malaga
Spain
Costa del Sol sunshine with a growing creative scene.
🇵🇱
Warsaw
Poland
Reinvented capital with cheap nights and easy travel.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Malaga
€850–1,150 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇵🇱 Warsaw
€750–1,050 / month
Best for
🇪🇸 Malaga
- Students who prioritise climate and beach
- Those who want excellent quality of life
- People who want to travel frequently around Europe
Best for
🇵🇱 Warsaw
- Students who want a major European capital on a budget
- Those who plan to travel widely around Central Europe
- People interested in modern history and culture
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Moderate
Cost of Living
Affordable
Moderate
Nightlife
High
Excellent
Weather
Fair
High
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Very Active
Tight
Housing
Comfortable
Well-Regarded
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇪🇸 Malaga
- Exceptional climate all year round
- Direct access to urban beaches
- Very good international flight connections
Student insights
🇵🇱 Warsaw
- Very affordable for a European capital
- Strong nightlife and modern club scene
- Excellent flight and rail connections
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Malaga
“I did my Erasmus in Málaga and went to Madrid. Málaga was much better.”
Student voice — 🇵🇱 Warsaw
“Warsaw is way more fun than people think.”
🇪🇸 Malaga
Pros
- Exceptional climate all year round
- Direct access to urban beaches
- Very good international flight connections
- Modern and increasingly international city
- Excellent quality of life
Cons
- Expensive and competitive housing
- Strong tourist pressure
- Less university atmosphere than other Erasmus destinations
- Higher cost of living than Granada or Seville
- Less feeling of a unified student community
🇵🇱 Warsaw
Pros
- Very affordable for a European capital
- Strong nightlife and modern club scene
- Excellent flight and rail connections
- Wide academic offer with English-taught programmes
- Housing market more accessible than Western Europe
Cons
- Long, cold winters with limited daylight
- City feels spread out and less walkable
- Less iconic atmosphere than Kraków
- Smaller Erasmus community than Prague or Budapest
- Language barrier outside the centre
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.